


a crown of light and thorns

by caprinaen



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Smut, Mostly Fluff, Request/giftfic, Takes place after SHB MSQ, Viera Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:34:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25479271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caprinaen/pseuds/caprinaen
Summary: Olivia hasn't left her room in over twenty-four bells. Y'shtola knows exactly why that is.(Or: The Warrior of Light works much too hard, so Y'shtola takes matters into her own hands.)
Relationships: Y'shtola Rhul/Warrior of Light
Comments: 3
Kudos: 54





	a crown of light and thorns

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lesbionage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lesbionage/gifts).



It took Olivia several long seconds to register the sound of a knock at her door. Her ears twitched retroactively, but her mind was too tangled up in thoughts of crystals and aether and transdimensional travel to connect the  noise to the arrival of a  late-night visitor.

…Late -night? When had it become late night? Hadn’t the sun been up just a few bells ago?

“She may be resting,” said a muffled voice on the other side, only audible because Viera had superior hearing.

“ Nay. She’s awake,” Y’shtola replied with confidence, her voice too dearly familiar to be mistaken.

Olivia quickly got to her feet,  making for the door of her room in the Crystarium’s Pendants and opening it wide.

There stood the caretaker of the apartments and the sorceress Miqo’te, the latter’s silvery eyes piercing right through her, as ever. 

The caretaker offered a bow. “My apologies for interrupting you, but  Miss Y’shtola was quite insistent that she see you.”

“No, no, that’s fine,” Olivia said quickly , offering him a smile. “Thank you.”

He nodded, slipping away to give the women some privacy once it was clear that Olivia’s  evening visitor was not unwelcome. Y’shtola said nothing—never one to waste words—she simply let herself in, her tail  trailing across Olivia’s knees. 

She felt her cheeks color at such a simple tease. “Y’shtola…? Is aught amiss?”

Y’shtola swept her gaze around the room before facing her, arms folded in a way that Olivia had come to recognize as being a danger sign. Uh oh. She was mad about—

“How many times  _ must  _ I tell you to  _ rest _ ?  Between you and the Crystal Exarch, I begin to wonder if such research will be the death of you both.”

Olivia opened her mouth to reply—

“Various residents of these apartments confirm that you’ve not left your room since early  the previous morn.”

“You investigated … ?  _ Of course  _ you investigated,” Olivia replied, smiling in a way that was equally fond and exasperated. She  should have known there was no escaping Y’shtola , and that the Miqo’te  never  made a move that was uncalculated.

(For a moment, she remembered the rush of wind as Y’shtola leaped to grab the antidote as it soared over the chasm —well, she  _ rarely  _ made a move that was uncalculated.

Or perhaps even that had been.)

“I-I apologize, but! I’ve been making tremendous strides in my research . May I show you?”

Y’shtola made an  _ after you _ gesture, and Olivia led her to her desk, which was surrounded by a veritable mountain of tomes borrowed from the Crystarium’s expansive library and the Exarch both. Olivia picked  her way to her chair, staring for a moment at the fact that she’d apparently been using a tome for a cushion …or had it always been there?

Y’shtola arched an eyebrow and Olivia hastily moved the book to the floor, sitting down.

“My theory is that the density of the Scions’ mana actually should be compressed  _ more  _ rather than — actually,  perhaps you should  read it for yourself? ” 

The notes were passed to her, and Y’shtola read them over in that curious way of hers, taking in the residue of aether in the ink.  She sat down on the edge of the desk and Olivia could do nothing but await her verdict, attempting to  shuffle some remaining manuscripts into a semblance of order.

…That tail again! Olivia jumped as Y’shtola flicked it across her arm. The gesture, she suspected, was no idle motion, and Olivia tried to read her face for any signs of intent. Y’shtola was inscrutable as ever.

Nothing else unexpected happened, until Y’shtola moved suddenly, placing the papers on the desk as she leaned over. She was still using the surface as an impromptu chair, which—combined with Olivia’s current seated position—put them roughly on eye level. She knocked the knuckles of one hand against her cheek, ears lowering as she mulled it all over , a movement as familiar as their first meeting.

Olivia folded her hands  on the desk , smiling a little.

“…It’s a sound theory, though I fear compressing so much aether  evenly  would require an unparalleled  amount of control in its distribution. If you look here,” she said,  fingers trailing against Olivia’s, encouraging her to tra ce the path of her hand with her own, “ we can see how your diagram  as sumes the natural movement of aether will send it coursing through here…”

They went over Olivia’s concept for a few minutes, Y’shtola seeming quite impressed by the thought and detail put into the project, though she shared Olivia’s uncertainty regarding the compression of the aether, as such a  fine  manipulation might require the use of some of the Exarch’s advanced magitek from his Tower,  which could be…finicky at times. Allowing machines to handle the Scions’ aether  wasn’t something Olivia was comfortable with.

_ How  _ many times had things gone wrong with magitek? How many out of control constructs had she put down, rapier in hand? No thank you.

Olivia had been about to propose an entirely new theory when Y’shtola suddenly grabbed her chin, making their eyes meet.

Her heart stopped. She made a faint squeaking sound, and Y’shtola ’s lips twitched.

“We,” she began, in a tone that brooked no argument, “are going to bed.”

Olivia’s thoughts had all crashed together, leaving a smoldering heap in her mind. Were there any survivors? Her braincells were scrambling to get out from beneath the wreckage.

“W…’We’…?” There was only one bed.

“ I’m certain I didn’t stutter.”

Y’shtola didn’t wait for her. She merely hopped off the desk, busily moving about the room—locking the door, placing her staff on the glamour dresser, removing her boots—and by the time she’d done all of that, Olivia had gotten to her feet and collapsed on her bed, watching her with quivering ears and a quivering tail.

It was not abundantly obvious to those that  did not know her well, but Y’shtola had a teasing streak a mile wide …and Olivia was one of her favorite targets.

Y’shtola came to the bed after blowing one of the candles out, sending the room to a state of semidarkness. Her eyes still glowed like twin moons in the dark …or perhaps that was just how Olivia saw her, ever shining. If she was a Seeker of the Sun, then surely she had found it, or the sun had found her.

“No one more than I appreciates the depth and duration of your labors. However…” She reached up, running her fingers through Olivia’s hair, gently guiding her to face her. “ I would sooner have your health than your hardship .”

“I know…” she closed her eyes, sighing at her touch. “I just…I worry sometimes that I’m not doing enough, that something could go wrong at any moment because I sat upon my laurels. ”

Humming a soft sound, Y’shtola brought her ever closer, until their lips were  brushing , and  _ oh _ , Olivia’s heart fluttered at such a simple thing. “ The balance between the worlds is not so tenuous that it will snap  because you rested for more than a bell. You’ve  fought harder than anyone should have to, my Warrior of Light. Allow the rest of us to carry the burden w hilst you rest .”

She scratched that spot behind her left ear that sent pleasant shivers down her back. Olivia wasn’t even sure when her lids lowered, slipped  shut , but Y’shtola’s voice was real and solid in the darkness behind  them.

“Even heroes must close their eyes.”

Y’shtola kissed her again, but it was different this time—a sort of heat and passion behind it, and again, Olivia fancied that the sun  lived in her, that its radiance was why she felt so warm and content around her. Olivia brought her closer, arms wrapped around her, and Y’shtola allowed it for a few precious moments before she broke the kiss.

Her eyes flashed, and before Olivia knew it, she was on her back, and Y’shtola had brought herself up to l ay across her. There was quite a height difference between a Viera and a Miqo’te, but during moments like this, it was Olivia  who felt small.

“One of the first things I noticed about you  once my eyes changed,” Y’shtola started, her hands wandering beneath Olivia’s blouse, the nails teasing her skin ; Olivia shivered again, “was the density of your soul. Compared to those around you, you shine in utter resplendence.”

Soft. So soft. Her voice was velvet in the shadows, but her nails were fire,  raking higher, teasing, teasing.

“Are you familiar with  Ishgardian paintings of their saints from two Astral Eras ago?” she continued, and Olivia swallowed twice before she found her voice.

“Y-Yes…?”

“You reminded me of that. A crown of Light, for Hydaelyn’s Chosen.”

Her lips were against Olivia’s ears now, in that softest of spots where the tufts met her head.  Olivia gripped at her back, closing her eyes as Y’shtola trailed lower and lower, and she dragged her nails down at the same pace. The anticipation of what was surely coming twisted knots in Olivia’s stomach.

“Y-You flatter me, Shtola,” Olivia managed to gasp out in reply. Y’shtola’s own ears twitched in satisfaction at how breathless she was.

“ Flattery carries a measure of untruth in it. You are every bit the hero you are often called.”

She was kissing her neck now, warming the skin before she began to bite, nipping just enough for pleasant prickles. Nothing more. Still so quiet. Olivia’s entire world had  condensed to the sound of her smooth, cultured voice, and the way her hands traced hearts against her.

“That Light I associated your presence with became more of a crown of thorns , here upon the First … though fortunately, since your encounter with Emet-Selch, I can see you clearer than ever.”

“I— _ eep! _ ” 

Olivia squeaked despite herself as Y’shtola  _ sucked  _ at her skin, leaving a mark there, and she  turned an even deeper shade of red than she imagined to be possible. 

“P-Purpose…! You were distracting me on purpose!” Olivia laughed, fond , staring up at her as Y’shtola smirked.

“Why would I want to distract you? I certainly hope you ’re  paying attention to me, Olivia.”

Another kiss, this time to the lips , and Olivia ran her fingers through Y’shtola’s hair, listening to the very quiet beginnings of a purr that began in her throat. She hardly ever purred, Y’shtola, so whenever she managed to get it out of her, she felt this sense of accomplishment like no other . It only ever sounded sweeter when it rumbled in the back of  her  laughter.

At some point during the biting and the kissing and  the lazy nibbles that always made Olivia  shudder, Y’shtola’s hand had trailed lower and lower. Olivia couldn’t help but suck in a breath, burying her  face in Y’shtola’s neck—when had she ended up with her back to the headboard?  She  wasn’t  exactly a blushing, demure maiden, but Y’shtola made her feel like one , and it was…it was  _ nice _ .

Slow and rhythmic. Y’shtola always seemed to be playing music, following some kind of melody only she knew—maybe Olivia’s staggered breaths, or the way she ’d gasp her name—but nothing ever disturbed her pace . Even as she stroked her, she whispered tender words of affection,  taking a few of Olivia’s sounds for herself with a kiss here, a kiss there…a teasing bite that made Olivia arch, and Y’shtola  would  chuckle in a low, breathy way that did terrible things to Olivia’s thoughts.

“In case I’ve ever given you cause for doubt: I  love you, Olivia.”

Olivia closed her eyes. “I love you too,” she replied, and there was no nervousness ther e; that was for certain . She loved her . Dearly. Come hells or high water.

It was only then that the speed increased, that  Y’shtola kissed her and kissed her, that the pressure and pleasure building in Olivia reached its crescendo.  For a moment lights flashed in Olivia’s eyes—too bright to be stars—and  when she was able to catch her breath, she noticed Y’shtola watching her with a gaze softer than anything she’d ever seen.

“We can talk about your new theory over lunch later,”  said Y’shtola, and one of Olivia’s ears flicked in confusion.

“Lunch…?”

“ The realms will survive you sleeping in for once.”

Still so determined. Her stubbornness regarding making sure she rested made Olivia laugh, and though Y’shtola huffed, it was without any real annoyance.

“Will you stay with me then ?” Olivia asked, quiet.

Y’shtola looked at her . Saw right through her soul. “ Of course I will.”

**Author's Note:**

> A gift for Blake, the creator of Olivia Sinclair, featured here! It was a delight to write your character, thank you for the chance!  
> You can find [their Warrior of Light and artwork on their Twitter!](https://twitter.com/lezbionage)


End file.
